The key word around the Penn men's basketball team this week has been focus.
The Quakers, whose chances at an Ivy League title were bolstered with victories over Yale and Brown last weekend and Princeton's loss to the Bears on Friday, head to New Hampshire to face a rebuilding Dartmouth team.
With the Tigers scheduled to visit the Palestra on Tuesday, the potential to overlook the perennial Ivy doormat Big Green(4-13, 1-3 Ivy) exists. The Quakers know that every game counts toward a possible berth in the NCAA Tournament.
"We definitely don't want to take [Dartmouth] lightly," forward Jan Fikiel said. "They play us pretty tough up there so we don't want to get too confident. To lose one of the games would be terrible."
Sophomore guard Ibby Jaaber echoed his teammate's sentiment.
"You can't treat any of the Ivy League teams any differently if you want to become the Ivy League champion," he said. "We're trying not to look past any teams."
Perhaps the biggest challenge for the Quakers this weekend will be for forwards Steve Danley, Mark Zoller, Ryan Pettinella and Fikiel to continue their recent success.
Danley, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, posted consecutive career-high point totals of 16 and 22 against Yale and Brown, respectively.
Against the Big Green, however, he and the other big men will have to contend with 6-foot-10 center David Gardner and 6-9 forward Calvin Arnold. Gardner is second on the team with 10.2 points per game and leads Dartmouth with 4.6 rebounds per game.
With Dartmouth's strong low-post presence, the scoring onus may fall on Penn's trio of guards: Jaaber, Tim Begley, and EricOsmundson.
Begley needs one more three-pointer to surpass former teammate Jeff Schiffner and move into sole possession of second place on Penn's all-time list of career three-pointers made.
Osmundson is shooting 42 percent from behind the arc this season and played impressively against Brown last weekend, notching 18 points on a 7-for-12 shooting performance.
With the Quakers on a five-game winning streak, this is an inopportune time for the Big Green to run into Penn.
Coach Terry Dunn is in the midst of his first campaign at Dartmouth's helm and, for the most part, the team has struggled. After splitting their home-and-home with Harvard to open league play, the Big Green have dropped three straight, including a 19-point drubbing by Columbia in New York.
Adding to their woes was the departure of sophomore guard Leon Pattman. Last year's Ivy League Rookie of the Year left the team just four games into this season for personal reasons. Pattman was the main offensive threat for Dartmouth last season, leading the team in scoring with 13.2 points per game.
On paper, the Penn should handle the Big Green squad easily. Sometimes, however, those are the games that slip through the cracks.
If Fikiel and Jaaber's attitudes are any indication, though, the Quakers are properly focused.
